Study shows that politicians tend to overestimate the conservatism of their constituents

Tuesday

Mar 5, 2013 at 5:05 PM

One thing I’ve learned in five years of writing this lefty blog is that our conservative commenters generally are more inclined than the liberals to think that most Americans agree with them.

That’s why they think that most polls are biased, especially if the numbers don’t comport with their own views. They seem to figure that if most of their friends agree with them, most Americans do, too. And if election results defy their expectations, they simply argue that too many moocher minorities and not enough real Americans voted.

Of course, this misreading of the vox populi is not limited ...

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Pat Cunningham

One thing I’ve learned in five years of writing this lefty blog is that our conservative commenters generally are more inclined than the liberals to think that most Americans agree with them.

That’s why they think that most polls are biased, especially if the numbers don’t comport with their own views. They seem to figure that if most of their friends agree with them, most Americans do, too. And if election results defy their expectations, they simply argue that too many moocher minorities and not enough real Americans voted.